History and Psychoanalysis

'Psychoanalysis is “in” again – and this volume showcases a highly productive experiment in putting analysts and historians in conversation with each other. Not least as the terrible vagaries of the global present – novel pressures and seductions, spiraling fears and ambivalences – force us to question long-held certainties especially about the attractions of fascism and the moral compromises humans are willing to make and to rationalize to themselves, this anthology could not come at a better moment. Every reader will find gems of provocative insight.'

Dagmar Herzog, Distinguished Professor, CUNY Graduate Center, author of The Question of Unworthy Life.

'This outstanding and original collection opens a genuinely creative dialogue between history and psychoanalysis, not by collapsing one discipline into the other, but by allowing each to illuminate the limits, possibilities, and blind spots of the other. The essays are intellectually adventurous, methodologically sophisticated, and emotionally resonant. Together they offer a rich exploration of trauma, memory, subjectivity, and historical experience, demonstrating how psychoanalytic thinking can deepen historical understanding and historical inquiry can sharpen psychoanalytic reflection. A major and timely contribution to interdisciplinary scholarship.'

Professor Peter Fonagy,CBE FMedSci FBA FAcSS, Head of Division, Psychology and Language Sciences, UCL, Professor, Contemporary Psychoanalysis and Developmental Science, National Clinical Adviser Children’s Mental Health, NHSE

'A thoughtful and probing set of dialogues. These vivid encounters between clinicians, historians and theorists illuminate opportunities, challenges and potential pitfalls in applying Freudian thought in the study of history, politics and contemporary life.'

Daniel Pick, Professor Emeritus Birkbeck College; training analyst, British Psychoanalytical Society

'This is a unique book, which brings together the contributions of renowned clinicians and scholars from different fields on the complex issue of 'history'. Under the editorship of Karl Figlio and Anthony Kauders, this interdisciplinary approach not only deepens our understanding of the 'past'. It leads right into the heart of the riddle of time: the role of remembering and forgetting, trauma and reparation, forgiveness and, finally, the emergence of the future. An indispensable reading for all those who are concerned with the challenges of historical understanding.'

Professor Heinz Weiss,senior scientist, Sigmund Freud Institute, Frankfurt, Chair of the Education Section, the International Journal of Psychoanalysis